Portable, collapsible, lightweight shelters, such as tents, have been in use for many years. Similarly, backpacks and their like have also been employed as carrying devices for essential equipment and gear. In most cases, collapsible, lightweight shelters consist of tent poles which need to be folded or broken down in such a way as to be small enough to conveniently carry, with a separate fabric covering structure folded or rolled to be contained and carried. Backpacks are generally carried by means of two straps affixed in such a way so that the pack can be easily carried over the shoulders and often include a belt at the waist to balance the load across the hips.
Backpackers, hikers, mountaineers, hunters, and others engaged in outdoor activities have been known to carry all their equipment with them in or on a backpack, often having the essential outdoor survival components of tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag carried on the outside of the pack, affixed by ties or other connectors. This can be a cumbersome way to transport a shelter and/or gear and can make setting up a sleeping system in the dark or in inclement weather conditions difficult, inconvenient, dangerous, and potentially hazardous as in the case where the life-saving shelter and warming gear of an individual gets wet from being attached on the outside of the pack, as well as then having to access all the parts of the tent, unpack them, locate the poles and pole sleeves, insert poles, hammer in stakes, etc in order to erect a structure. After that, a person may be able to pull the backpack inside the shelter to access other essential equipment, but in the case of one person tents, often there is only enough room for the person, and not the pack. Many shelters that are intended to be used by a single individual are also not designed for comfort or ease of movement, or provide the individual with enough space to sit up fully.
In addition to use by hikers, campers, hunters, and their like, portable, collapsible, lightweight shelters are required in situations where the need for an instant shelter which can also accommodate an individual's sleeping equipment and other necessities is paramount to survival. Victims of catastrophes, emergencies, and climactic, economic, or social disasters often need temporary shelters which provide relief, protection from the environment, and some degree of privacy. Military personnel who are on the move and need an instant shelter can also benefit from a combined backpack/tent structure that can provide shelter in a trice and can encompass necessary gear. Similarly, individuals who live in geographic areas where mosquito-borne illnesses proliferate can benefit from sleeping within tent-like structures which incorporate mesh netting.
There have been previous attempts to address the need for a combination backpack and tent, as in Rowe U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,349, which utilizes the backpack frame as the support for one end of a tent, Velazquez U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,495, in which a “telescopic tubular frame pulls apart to form the support for the bed in the extended mode and nests together to form a pack frame, in the folded mode”, and Smith et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,918, in which the backpack frame forms part of the tent structure. Some combinations make use of a backpack frame to create a cot that can then be covered by a tent, as in Howard U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,768A, however that concept seems to require a lot of set up and restructuring. In Robichaud, U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,649, a compactible shelter that can be erected instantly is conceived of which can be carried in the manner of a backpack, with other necessities attached to the outside of the compactible shelter. In this instance, the rigid, rectangular shape of the frame may make carrying the structure awkward or uncomfortable over long distances. While these inventions do serve to address the need to have a combined backpack/tent, many of them are complex and unwieldy.
It is consequently preferable to have a collapsible shelter which can be carried or transported easily and can be erected instantly upon opening; is lightweight, easy to use, does not need to be disassembled and reassembled into component parts, is easy to manufacture, and can contain and carry essential gear. It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide an improved combination backpack and instant tent which can shelter an individual in the simplest possible way, provide comfort and privacy, and have room for carrying indispensable equipment.
It is another object of this invention to provide a weatherproof, collapsible structure which can be erected instantly, with no set up, and no modification of the backpack frame.
It is another object of this invention to provide a no set up shelter which has a sleeping system available instantly upon opening and which also provides immediate access to the contents therein.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a no set up shelter that can accommodate an individual in a sitting position, as well as allow room to lie fully extended.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a shelter system with single unit poles of the same size which are flexible and easily replaceable if need be and uses materials that are readily available.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, easily fabricated and assembled, backpack with a separable but incorporated no set up portable shelter which can be used effectively for a variety of different purposes and which can easily be stored and transported.